THE SNP has accused Tory MP Douglas Ross of breaking a promise to constituents, after he signed up to run the line at tonight’s Championship League game between Bayern Munich and Red Star Belgrade.
Back in 2017, Ross was forced to give up on his dream of refereeing at the World Cup after he was criticised for missing Westminster business to officiate at a match in Barcelona.
At the time, the Tory promised to only referee at weekends while Parliament was sitting, saying that would be in the “best interests” of his constituents.
But on Monday, the SFA announced that Ross would be among the Scots officials heading to Munich for the opening game of the group stage of the Champions League.
The SNP said Ross was able to cash in this week thanks to fellow Brexiteer Boris Johnson’s unlawful suspension of parliament.
A spokesman for the SNP said: “Douglas Ross made a clear commitment to his constituents that he’d put their interests first and give up officiating at midweek games.
“With his boss Boris Johnson suspending parliament, he thinks he can just swan off on Champions League duty at a crucial time in politics, with just over a month until Brexit, when MPs should really be back at work.
“With an early General Election looking very likely, constituents will take a dim view of this broken promise.”
A spokesman for the Tories accused the SNP of jealousy.
He said: “If the SNP had talented politicians like Douglas who could work on the world stage, they’d understand it’s something voters in Moray and everywhere else actually quite like to see.”
Parliament returns on October 14.
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